Coldplay and Muse may headline Plymouth concert narrated by Gwyneth Paltrow in plan for Plymouth 2017

A SPECTACULAR musical production featuring world famous stars of stage and screen could form the centrepiece of Plymouth's City of Culture 2017 celebrations.

The city's initial bid to win the UK accolade was handed in on Tuesday. Now The Herald can reveal the ambitions contained in the bid document which is a blueprint to create jobs and kickstart investment in the city as well providing a breathtaking calendar of events.

The bid includes a plan to draft in a host of A-list household names for a series of music, theatre and art shows, including a star-studded extravaganza entitled The Plymouth Sound.

The production could be narrated by Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow, with a libretto team headed by Sir Tim Rice and children's laureate Julia Donaldson and there are hopes it could be headlined by the likes of Muse, Seth Lakeman, Joss Stone and Coldplay's Chris Martin.

The 42-page bid, which will be judged against ten other competing regions, promises to restore "civic pride" and silence the "cynical voices", attempting to "reconnect the city and the aspirations of its people with the energy and spirit of the ocean."

If Plymouth wins it will cost £20million to host the year-long spectacular, creating 2,800 new jobs in the creative and tourism industries, increasing visitor spending by 25 per cent and attracting more than one million spectators to ticketed events.

Other 2017 highlights could include an "interactive music event" featuring an orchestra of yachts, canoes and naval ships; ; a Beryl Cook exhibition; and the launch of a major new production of Les Miserables from Sir Cameron Mackintosh.

Alongside the eye-catching names, the document also places a strong emphasis on using the culture title to improve the city's social and economic fortunes.

The document says: "Plymouth is a city of contrasts. The outstanding natural beauty of its location masks substantial social and economic problems, with many areas in the lowest 20 per cent of the most deprived districts in England.

"Our programme will empower communities and audiences to celebrate, participate and rediscover Plymouth's special sense of place and its connection to the globe through the ocean.

"By the end of our City of Culture year civic pride will be at an all-time high."

The judging panel is set to announce a shortlist of four regions in June, and the winner will be announced in Derry-Londonderry in November or December.

Hopes for the launch of a major new production of Les Miserables with Sir Cameron Mackintosh

A large 'Party on The Hoe' exploring the city's history and heritage featuring fireworks and 'digital sound and light'

A programme of music from the BBC Concert Orchestra

A Beryl Cook retrospective series

A proposal for a series of pop concerts featuring Muse, Ben Howard and Seth Lakeman

World premiere productions from Frantic Assembly and Complicite

A multi-million pound centre for "community and civic understanding" called The Curiosity Shop

The Ocean City Festival – a week-long celebration of all things marine

All Plymouth's primary schools launch the largest artwork ever created through online conversation with other Plymouths throughout the world

£20million to host the year-long accolade

Creating 2,800 new jobs in the creative and tourism industries by 2020 and 4,000 by 2026

Increasing visitor spending by 25 per cent

Attracting more than one million spectators to ticketed events

DIGITAL INNOVATION AT HEART OF PLYMOUTH'S CULTURE BIDTHE City of Culture bid promises to use digital technology to “push the boundaries” of creativity and make people think differently about how they engage with art.Digital sensors will be used for sound and light shows, triggered by the movement of people and traffic.Drawing on the city’s maritime location, a series of “cultural buoys” will be placed around the city, offering information which can be transferred to handheld devices.A free piece of software will enable audiences to “capture data” in a variety of ways during events, including facial expressions, heart rates and physical movement, and will be linked to photography and social media.Computers will use digital signals on the Hoe to create “intelligent music”, accompanied by choirs of human and robot singers and a fleet of boats and ships.The bid document says: “Plymouth is home to some leading exponents of digital technology and its interconnections with culture and our digital interventions will be the very latest cutting-edge research. Digital technologies will be integrated into every level of our cultural and artistic programme, and we will challenge our local, national and international artists to extend their own work through digital interventions they may never have come across before.”CULTURE BID LOOKS AT THE ECONOMY OF PLYMOUTHTHE culture bid recognises the difficulties and challenges faced by the people of Plymouth and looks at how the 2017 title could transform the city.Transport, employment, economy, environment and community spirit will all see a boost if the city’s bid is successful, it is claimed.The bid examines the city’s history as a major garrison town with “economic underperformance”.The document describes how the City of Culture title could “connect Plymouth’s disparate communities in heightened and shared experiences of the city, lifting civic pride, profile and economic confidence.”The title would create 2,800 new jobs by 2020 and 4,000 by 2026, along with 25 apprenticeships, boosting the city’s economic output, leading to connected communities, reduced cynicism, raised aspirations, social regeneration and improved transport infrastructure.The bid team aims to connect the city’s communities by “making the whole city an art gallery, a stage, a book, or a cultural map, where all roads lead from its farthest edges through the city to the ocean”.There are plans to ensure diversity in 2017 – the South Asian Dance Society, the Plymouth and Devon Race Equality Council and the Plymouth Pride Forum have all signalled their support, along with groups supporting the Buddhist, Kurdish and Chinese communities.The bid also outlines plans for a £200million re-design of Devonport; creation of a Plymouth Free School of Creative Arts; and a heritage and history centre in North Hill.CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON PLYMOUTH'S 2017 CITY OF CULTURE BID

I had to laugh after reading the long list of mights,coulds,maybes combined with details of the wonderful projects that might/maybe/potentially happen,the the bizarre claim that 3 words on Tudor's next batch of 20 grand apiece roadsigns would create thousands of jobs then most priceless of all the claim that these fantasies would "reduce cynicism".

NthCountryBoy
I did READ your reply and i'm still not sure what it is exactly that you are 'clearly' arguing. You say that you didn't claim there was any substance to the report and then say such bids don't work unless they have substance behind them. I'll leave you to clarify further.

DevonportBoy - If you READ my reply it doesn't state I ACTUALLY Said they had agreed. You've assumed and ignored the details. I was making a CLEAR point that you've assumed.
It seems quite clear that some people on here expect a organisation to bid on a project with no agenda/substance. Yeah that'll work.
It shows a naivety in how bidding works and its embarrassing to think that the Herald made the contents up!
*facepalm*

When Tudor's cronies gave Brent £2million of our money last year to what the Herald announced as the "new ambitious pavilions redevelopment with work expected to commence in August 2011" i made a comment here that it would never happen. That comment was berated by the same pro-Plymouth city Centre company elite that comment here. Well it is now more than 14 months since Brent was given that money and not one brick been laid. I suspect that more money will yet again be syphoned off by the same cartel on false promises for projects that will never happen. Doubtless I will be labeled a whiner by the same old mediaeval elite that rule and ruin our lives.

@NthCountryBoy
How do you know that they haven't agreed in principle to the idea pending the successful bid? you don't really. You've just assumed. These things only work and are successful by the strength of the bid and it's contents.
And you've just assumed that they have. Is it likely they've signed up to appear at an event that may or not happen at some undetermined point in the future? I would have thought bands like Coldplay need much more detail before they can sign up to events like this.

...the may and could style of journalism (??) is pretty damned shoddy. Just what we have come to expect.
Oh yeah and The Beatles COULD be reforming for 2017.
Great on 2017 but this 'erald shabby reporting is quite deplorable really.
The main 'erald readership ain't that smart and can actually be heard talking about what may or could happen believing it will.

DevonportBoy - At what point are you assuming that this is conjecture and speculation?
How do you know that they haven't agreed in principle to the idea pending the successful bid? you don't really. You've just assumed.
These things only work and are successful by the strength of the bid and it's contents.
I can't understand why people are thinking the Herald made it up?!
It would be nice if people got behind something positive rather than taking any opportunity to pull these things apart.
Quite a few moan about these things but seem to do nothing to make a difference.